PowerPoint: Edit the Excel link without problems
Anyone who works with Microsoft Office 2021 or Microsoft 365 has probably heard about it: you should activate macros to be able to work more effectively. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel in particular are supposed to benefit from this. But many people don’t know what these ominous macros actually are and how to activate them. For all those, here are our instructions.
What are macros in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel?
Basically, macros are commands on the PC that enormously facilitate and accelerate work processes that are carried out again and again. This means that macros in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel, for example, save these commands and automatically make them available as needed with a simple click of the mouse. Such recurring instructions or commands are executed together with the help of macros either via the mouse or via a key combination. In Excel spreadsheets, for example, data can be quickly organised, formatted and imported by clicking on a defined symbol or using a specific key combination. Or constantly recurring phrases in correspondence, such as „Yours sincerely“, do not have to be typed under the letter, but can be inserted automatically under every letter with a macro. A text that has been written once or a sequence of frequently used commands are therefore automatically recorded or executed by the macros. In order to be able to do this, however, they must first „learn“ which work steps they should save. You must therefore first activate the macros in order to work with them.
Activating Macros in Microsoft Office 2021
First you decide whether you want to activate Excel macros or Word macros. Accordingly, open the desired programme in Microsoft Office 2021 or Microsoft 365 and proceed as follows:
- In Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel 2010, go to the File tab.
- Select Options.
- Go to the section Security Centre (Trust Center).
- Click on the button Settings for the Trust Center.
- Now go to the section Settings for Macros (Macro Settings).
- Click on Activate all macros (Activate VBA macros).
- Confirm changes with OK.
Now the macros can be programmed in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word to make work easier. To create macros, click on „View“ at the top of the Excel menu bar – on the far right you will find the macro area where you can create new macros with the function „Record macro…“. You can define each macro with the following properties:
- Macro name
- Key combination with which you want to trigger the macro
- Save macro in
- Description (optional)
Activating and programming Excel macros
First, the macros in Microsoft Excel must be activated as described above. To programme the individual automated commands, the following steps are still carried out:
- Click on „View“ in the Excel menu bar at the top.
- Create new macros on the right in the macro area with the function „Record macro…“.
- Each individual macro must be defined with certain properties
- Name of the macro
- Key combination that is to activate the macro
- Storage location for the macro
- If desired, description of the macro
Activate Word macros via button
Word macros can be activated not only via a specific key combination, but also via a defined button:
- Go to the „View“ tab in the menu bar and click on the symbol for „Macros“.
- In the context menu, select the middle option „Record macro“.
- Now define the „Macro name“.
- The selection „Save macro in“ offers the option to use the macro in all Word documents by selecting „All documents (Normal.dotm)“.
- Now select the option „Button“ under „Assign Macro“.
- Click on the newly created macro („Normal.NewMacros.MacroName“)
- click „Add“.
- With the „Change“ button, the macro can now be given a symbol and a suitable name.
- Confirm with „OK“.
From now on, the symbol given to the macro appears in the button above the menu bar. If you now want to activate this or several macros, all you have to do is click on the corresponding symbol at the appropriate place in the text.
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